So Thursday morning we left for the airport at 6:00am. It was pretty early but it was a good thing since we got into Budapest at 11:00am! We basically had the whole day, which, I think, is better than getting there late at night or even in the afternoon. Now I know I've given Karina props before when it comes to planning/figuring out the city but she definitely deserves another pat on the back after this trip. She was SO on the ball! We got to the Budapest airport and she had already figured out which bus and metro line to take so that we could get to downtown Pest. (Just to clarify, Budapest is spilt by a river into the Pest side and the Buda side. Our hotel was on the Pest side.) After taking out some local currency, the Hungarian Forint, we took off on the bus and made it to the metro. There was an H&M across the street and since it was already +20 degrees and sunny, we decided to go get sunglasses. Definitely a valid purchase since I forgot mine at home (in Canada)!
After buying our awesome sunglasses, we took the metro into town. This metro had to be the oldest looking train system I'd ever seen. The cars were so run down looking and old (even older than that one LRT train with the carpet)! But the inside of the cars was actually really nice and roomy. The only thing that scared me was the doors! Those things SLAMMED shut like nobody's business! Either way, we made it downtown and by then it was basically time to check into the hotel. We walked through downtown Budapest, enjoying the sights and the beautiful side streets and managed to find the hotel quite easily! We checked in and just chilled for a bit before deciding to do what we did in Dublin by taking the 'Hop On Hop Off' bus around the city to see what we wanted to explore the next day.
Hop On Hop Off buses are probably the greatest things about European cities! The tickets are good for two days and it costs about 18 euro. That’s two day’s transportation and information about places to go in the city! The best part is that you can get off at any of the stops and get back on when the next bus comes! The Budapest tour was especially useful since it gave us just enough Hungarian history to actually understand the different buildings and landmarks through out the city. Anyways, we did the whole tour then went for diner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant. It was really cool. It was basically a buffet with typical Hungarian foods (stuffed cabbage, goulash [SO much yummy], beef with cream sauce, duck and deer) and it gave you unlimited pop, wine, beer and champagne. You could stay for up to three hours! It was twenty dollars a person. Pretty good deal if you ask me!
After a delightful night in the hotel (delightful in the sense that it was a hotel and not a hostel), we set off the next day to see the sights. Karina wore a skirt and I wore a dress and neither of us wore tights. It was another beautiful day of +20 and the sun was out the whole time! We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and went to Castle Hill on the Buda side to check out the old palace, Mathias’ Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. We got to see a changing of the guards at the President’s palace and a really cool eagle statue (EAGLE)! We then walked down the hill, across the bridge into Pest and went to see the Parliament building. Reader, I kid you not when I say that this was the most beautiful building in the city! I’ve posted pictures on FaceBook and if you’re looking through them, make sure to check out the Parliament! Who ever designed it had mad skills! It was amazing! We also went to see St. Stephen’s Basilica, a beautiful church downtown. The story behind St. Stephen is actually pretty nuts! The guy came to Budapest to convert the pagans to Christians and the pagans put him in a nail-lined barrel and pushed him down a hill. Needless to say he died and was deemed saint-worthy.
The Hop On Hop Off tour included a boat ride down the Danube River (the river that splits the city). We took the boat down to Margaret Island (a two kilometer long island in the river) and walked back to the hotel from there. The island had parks and recreational areas but it was getting late and we still had one major thing to get done. Once back at the hotel we gave our feet a little break then changed into our bathing suits and headed off to Széchenyi Spa. Budapest is famous for its thermal hot springs so it was an obvious choice to go to one of these spas. In fact, the hotel receptionist practically insisted we go! Széchenyi is Europe’s largest hotspring spa complex with three outdoor pools and several indoor pools. We got there around 7:00pm and stayed until 9:00pm. It was wonderful! The cool night air mixed with the warm water was just perfect after a long day of walking and sight seeing!
That night was spent watching CNN until 3:00am the next morning. The reason for this was that our flight was at 6:30am on Saturday and since it was an international flight we had to be at the airport at 4:30am. To get there by 4:30am we had to leave the hotel at around 3:45am. We figured there was no point going to sleep for a couple hours, only to force ourselves to wake up for the flight. Now I mentioned how puns went to die on this trip well they definitely died that night. With CNN being the only available channel in English, we watched every program that came on, all the while spouting off ridiculously lame puns. Karina even shouted out a ‘joke’ from the shower at one point. I will admit, I laughed quite hard at her ‘Comrade, this shampoo smells like lemons’ (one of the on going jokes this trip was the Soviet Russia line). At least we’ve stopped saying ‘that guy’ all the time. Anyways, It goes without saying that we were EXHAUSTED when we got back to Oslo and so were our jokes.
It really was an amazing trip! I really wasn’t expected much from Budapest. Hungary is one of those countries that you kind of forget about but I highly recommend traveling there! I’ve heard many rumors about Eastern Europe being dangerous and that the people are unfriendly towards tourists but if Hungary is any indication, these rumors are false. Not once did I feel threatened or like I was being ripped off. The locals were so nice and even the ones who didn’t speak English did their best to communicate. The city was incredible and the atmosphere was fun and inviting! I wish we had had more time! Now it’s back to work or lack there of here in Norge! This week should be pretty slow as nothing of interest is going on (except going to see The Hunger Games) but that’s fine by me! I’ve got a bit of studying to catch up on (believe it or not) and I have to do laundry! Well that’s all for now Reader! I hope you have a great start to the week and I hope you enjoy the pictures from Budapest! As usual, thanks for reading and thanks for keeping track of me! I love and miss you all! :)
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